Rolling-mill



(No Model.) 7 Shets-Sheet 1. H. AIKEN.

ROLLING MILL. No. 421,039. Patented Feb. 11,1890.

WITNESSES: y

7 N E K I A H ROLLING MILL.

fab. 11, 1890.

Patented INVENTOR; W 44% WITNESSES:

7 Sheets-Sheet 3. H. AIKEN. NG MILL.

(No Model.)

No. 421,039. Patented Feb. 11,1890.

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INVENTOR,

WITNESSES:

(No Model.) '1 Sheets-Sheet 5.

H. AIKEN. ROLLING MILL.

No. 421,039. Patented Peb.'11, 1890.

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H S MOBMZ QQ (No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 7. H. AIKEN.

ROLLING MILL.

No. 421,039. Patented Feb. 11, 1890.

INVENTOR guides.

7 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY AIKEN, OF HOMESTEAD,- PENNSYLVANIA.

ROLLING-MILL.

srnorrrcnrron forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,039, dated February11, 1890. Application filed October 22,1889. Serial No. 327,772. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY AIKEN, of Homestead, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovemcntin Rolling-Mills, of which the following is a full, clear,and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,forming part of this specificati0n,-in which Figure 1 is a sideelevationof my improved mill. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on thesection plane II II of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal sectionon the line III III of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical irregular section onthe line IV IV of Figs. 1 and 5. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on theline V V of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the plate forming theguide for the rest-bars 20. Fig. 7 is a horizontal cross-section on theline VII VII of Fig.6. Fig.8 is an enlarged plan view showing one of theupper guides of the vertical rolls. Fig. 9 is an end view, and Fig. 10is a side view, thereof. Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing amodified form of the upper guides of the vertical rolls. Fig. 12 is apartial front elevation, partly in section showing another modifiedconstruction of the Fig. 13 is a vertical cross-section on the line XIIIXIII of Fig. 12.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.

The universal mill shown in the accompanying drawings is in manyrespects similar to the mill shown and described in a prior applicationfiled by Henry Aiken and Julian Kennedyon March 16,1888, Serial No.267,405, and to the specification and drawings of that applicationreference is made for a. detailed description of the arrangement andmode of Operation of the rolls and their driving mechanism.

The invention embodied in the present application relates to animprovement which is especially applicable to said mill, but is notlimited thereto, since by mechanical changes within the power of theskilled mechanic it may be used in connection with rolls differentlyconstructed and arranged. It is designed to remedy a practicaldifficulty experienced generally in the use of the vertical rolls, ofguiding the metal in the different stages of its reductions and ofobtaining in a universal mill all those advantages in uniformity andregularity of product which hitherto have been obtainable only in theuse of horizontal rolls provided with peripheral collars or 'with guidesof the usual form.

By use of my improvement I am enabled to roll material of uniform crosssection throughout, whatever be its sectional area within the limits ofcapacity of the mill; and although the particular apparatus shown by meis adapted especially for rolling pieces of rectangular cross-section,other shapes may be produced by proper modifications in form of theparts. As before intimated, such results have been hard to obtain in theuse of mills of the sort heretofore known, since from variouscauses-such as lack of uniformity in heat of the metal or curling at theend-the piece is apt to rise at one side in the vertical rolls and todescend at the other, so that instead of a uniform rectangular productthere may be produced a piece of general diamond shape in cross-sectionand of varying sectional shapes at different places.

Referring now to the drawings, 2 2 are the horizontal rolls, 3 thehousings thereof, and 4 4 their adjusting-screws.

r 5 5 are the vertical rolls, which are situate between upright housings6; and 7 7 are parallel rest-bars which extend horizontally in pairsbetween the housings at the top and bottom thereof, and serve as bracesor separators for the housings and as guides or rests for the carriersand bearings of the vertical rolls. Said bearings 8 encircle the necksof the rolls, and are inovably set between the rest-bars, the top andbottom bearings of each roll being connected or tied together by strongvertical plates or carriers 9. The rolls are driven from a suitablereversing-engine by power-driven shafts 10 and 11, journaled in suitablebearings at the top and base of the housings and connected respectivelywith gear-wheels 13 on the upper neck of one roll and the lower neck ofthe other by sliding pinions 12, mounted on the shafts byfeatherand-sp'line connections, so that the gearing of the rolls shallnot be disturbed by the lateral adjustment. Such adjustment is effectedby means of adj usting-screws 14 and a hydraulic retracting plunger 15.(Shown in Figs. 2 and 4.)

16 16 are the usual feed-rollers, which extend between and beyond thevertical and horizontal rolls, and 17 are guidebars connected atone endwith the carriers of the vertical rolls and at the other end providedwith adj usting-serews 18, by which they are movable laterally in theadjustment of the rolls for the purpose of guiding the metal piece fromone set of rolls to the next.

In the practical operation of a mill constructed as just described themetal piece to be reduced is passed back and forth between bothhorizontal and vertical rolls, the former of which effect its reductionin a vertical direction while the latter reduce it laterally, and byproperly adjusting the members of each pair of rolls toward each otherit may be brought to the desired cross-sectional dimensions. It is insuch reduction that the metal is apt to be canted to one side or theother, and to be subjected to uniform shaping, as I have aboveindicated. To prevent this I employ in connection with the verticalrolls interposed guides above and below the metal piece, which arepreferably adjustable conformably to the. adjustment of the rolls, andwhich serve to direct the metal in its proper course, preventing it fromturning laterally in either direction.

I shall now describe the construction of guide-bars shown in Figs. 1 to5, inclusive.

19 19 are horizontal bars which are set parallel to each other betweenthe bases of the vertical rolls, and are secured to the bearings thereofby bolts passing through flanges of the bars, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.These bars I shall designate as the lower guide-bars. Their function isto serve as supports for the metal piece, and as they move with thebearings of the vertical rolls they perform thisfunetion in everyposition of the latter. Their relation to and manner of co-operationwith the upper guides will be explained hereinafter; but independentlyof such combination they are new in themselves, and although very usefulin combination with the upper guides they may be dispensed with andother suitable non-adjustable supports substituted therefor, as will beunderstood.

The upper guides are supported from vertical strain by means ofvertically-adj ustable horizontal guide rests or bars 20 20- -one oneach side of the vertical rolls-which extend between the housings andare connected at the middle by a bolt 45 and an encircling tubularseparator 4o. At theirends the guiderests are fitted in vertical slidesat the inner sides of the housings. Said slides are shown in detail inFigs. 6 and 7, and are constructed as follows: A vertical metal plate 21is bolted against the inner side of each housing, and is formed withsuitable vertical guide flanges or shoulders I). The ends of theguide-rests fit against the faces of these vertical plates, and theirinner lateral extremities fit against the shoulders or flanges I), whiletheir outer sides are confined by means of vertical bars or strips 22,set at the ends of the plates 21, and connected by means of a series ofbolts 23, which extend from one strip to the next through the plate. Thestrips 22 and the shoulders I) on the plates 21 therefore serve asvertical slides, within which the ends of the guide-rests are verticallymovable. Such vertical movement is effected by the adjusting mechanismshown in Figs. 4 and 5. At each end of each guide-rest is arranged a vertical screw 24, whose lower end is stepped in an externally-sphericalbearing 25, which is set in a correspondingly-shaped socket-plate 26,bolted to the rest-bar 7, and the upper end of each screw passes throughan externallyspherical nut 27, set in a correspondinglyshaped socket inthe guide-rest and held therein by a follower or cap-plate 28, the nutbeing prevented from rotation on its vertical axis (though free to turnotherwise) by a pin 29. The upper end of the screw bears upon thestationary rest 7, and the strain of the upper guides is exertedthereon, which,'therefore, takes up the entire strain of the guides inthe work of the mill. Each screw is retated by means of gearing,consisting of a gear-wheel 30 at the foot of thescrew, a gearwheel 31 ona horizontal shaft 32, which has its" bearings in the housings, andgear-wheels 33 on the exterior of the housings, connecting the 'shaft 32with a shaft 34. There are two of the shafts 34-one at each end of thehousings -and each is connected, by pinions 35, short vertical shafts36, and pinions 37, with a common counter-shaft 38, which is driven,preferably, by a suitable reversing-engine. The vertical shafts 36 areheld in place by sectional sleeves 39, connected by braces 40 withsimilar sleeves 41 on shaft 38. By driving the shaft 38 the four adjusting-screws 24 will be rotated simultaneously and to the same extent,and by turning in the nuts 27 will lift or lower the guide-restsaccordingly as they are turned in one direction or the other. Thefunction of the spherical nuts and of the spherical steps at the ends ofthe screws is to enable the latter to adjust themselves under theflexion and change of position to which they may be subjected in thesevere strains put on the guide-rests in the work of the mill and in theexpansion of the guide-rest caused by their proximity to the heatedmetal. The preferable shape of the guide-rests, by which they are bracedand strengthened, and the manner in which they are enabled in their mostelevated position to enter a cored-out portion of the rest-bars 7, isclearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4.

The upper guides are shown in Figs. 2, 3, 8, 9, and 10. Thereare twosuch guides adj acent to each of the vertical rolls. Each consists of ablock or casting 42, situate on the inner side of the roll and connectedby bolts 43 to two chucks 44, which fit against the inner sides of theguide-rests or guide-bars 20 and are guided and held by horizontalplaned slides or seats 0 thereon, as shown in Fig. 9,

on whichthey are capable of free horizontal movement. The outer end ofeach chuck is 1 provided with vertical flanges or shoulders d,

. that by loosening which inclose the sides of the vertical carriers 9of the rolls, as shown in Fig. 8, and which enable the chucks to movevertically on said carriers, following the guide-rests in their verticaladjustment. The guides are'provided at their ends with tongues orshoulders which fit against the under sides of the slides 0, so that inuse the upward thrust is transferred directly to the guide-rests, butthey are preferably unsupported, except by the bolts 43, so

these bolts they may beremoved and others substituted therefor to adaptthe mill to be used in rolling pieces of difierent width. In order tocause the metal in passing the rolls to bear directly on the guides,their lower sides should be constructed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 9, soas to project somewhat below the level of the base of the.

guide-rests.

As will be seen by reference to the drawings, the upper guides have afunctional re lation to the rolls similar to that of the usualcollars'on rolls, so that the metal in passing between the rolls cannotrise above the base of the guides, and if by proper adjustment they aremaintained in such position as to engage the surface of the metalpiece-the latter will be confined, as in a box, between the, upper andlower guides and cannot turn laterally between the rolls. The lateraladj ustment of the guides is performedautomaticall y in the lateraladjustment of the vertical rolls, whose carriers 9 move the chucks andthe connected guides horizontally along the seats of the chucks on theguide-rests, and their vertical adjustment is performed by theadjusting-screws 24, by means of which the guiderests 20 are movablevertically in either direction, thereby causing the chucks to slidecorrespondingly on their hearings on the vertical carriers and to carrythe guides with them. In this manner the guides may be adj ustedvertically to conform to the diminishing thickness of the metal as it isacted upon by the horizontal rolls and to confine and direct the metalin every stage of its reduction,

It sometimes happensthat in rolling metal in the mill its end curlsupbetween the horizontal and vertical rolls and will not enter thelatter properly. To prevent this and to guide the metal verticallyin itsintermediate passage from one set of rolls to the other, I employ a topguide bar or plate 47, which is preferably arranged as follows: One endof the plate is pivotally connected to that one of the guide-rests 20next to the horizontal rolls by a bolt 48 passing through lugs 49,formed on the guide-bar, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and the other end ispivotally bolted to the lower end of a hanger-bar 50, the upper end ofwhich is pivotally connected to a bar 51, which extends across thehousings of the horizontal rolls, between the bearings of the upper rolland the adjusting-screws, and

skilled in the art.

which moveswith said bearings in their vertical adjustment, thus servingin this relation the function of an adjustable guide-rest. This guideis, therefore, in effect a jointed plate, one end of which will movewith the vertical adjustment of the guide-rests of the vertical rolls,while theother end will move with the adjustment of the horizontalrolls, thus preserving in any position of either a constant relationthereto, guide or guard which prevents the metal froml' curling up atthe end on horizontal rolls and directs it in proper position into thebite of the vertical rolls. Other means of arranging and supporting thispart of the apparatus may be devised within the scope of my invention.utility, and I desire to claim it broadly.

My invention may be varied in many ways in form and details ofconstruction by those I show a modifiedform of upper guide for thevertical rolls possessing the same capacity for vertical adjustment asthat above described, but without capacity for lateral adjustment. Inthis case the guide is consti tuted by a plate 52, pivotally connectedat one end to the end of the hanger 50, and extending thence between thevertical rolls to the rear guide-rest 20, on which it is hung, asclearly shown in the drawings. When thus arranged it is evident that'theguide will rise or fall with the vertical movement of the guide-rest,and will therefore serve as an upper guide to the metal in every stageof its reduction. 7

In Figs. 12 and 13 I illustrate another modified construction of theupper guidesin which the vertically-movable guide-rests 2Othemselvesserve .as guides, being preferably faced for this purpose withface plates or bars 20', secured thereto, as shown in the drawings. Theproximity of these guides to the vertical rolls causes them to engageand to guide the metal as it passes between the latter. In these figuresI also show a modified construction of the lower guides, in which theguides 19 are replaced by cross guidebars 19' set on both sides of therolls and bolted to the lower rest-bars 7.

I claim-- 1. The combination, with laterally-adjustable vertical rolls,of laterally-adjustable guides situate at or near the bases of the rollsand adapted to serve as supports or guides for the metal while passingbetween said rolls, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. The combination, with laterally-adjustable vertical rolls and theirbearings, of guides attached to and movable with the bearings at thelower ends of the rolls and situate on the inner sides thereof, saidguides being adapted to support or guide the metal while passing betweenthe rolls, substantially as and for the purposes described.

3. The combination, with the vertical rolls,

and afiording at- For example, in Fig. 11

its exit from thel It is .of marked path of the metal,

of an interposed gu'ide situate above the path of the metal,substantially as and for the purposes described.

4. The combination, with the vertical rolls, of a vertically-adjustableguide situate above the path of the metal, for the purpose of guidingthe metal in its passage through the rolls, substantially as described.

5. The combination, with the laterally-adjustable vertical rolls, oflaterally-adj ustable guides situate above the path of the metal, forthe purpose of guiding the metal in its passage through the rolls,substantially as described.

6. The combination, with laterally-adjustable vertical rolls, oflaterally and vertically adjustable guides situate above the path of themetal, substantially as and for the purposes described.

7. The combination, with laterally-adjustable vertical rolls, ofinterposed laterally and vertically-adj ustable guides situate above thesubstantially as and for the purposes described.

8. The combination, with the vertical rolls and the horizontal rolls, ofa guide interposed between the said rolls above the path of the metal,substantially as and for the purposes described.

9. The combination, with the vertical rolls and their housings and thehorizontal rolls and their housings, of a jointed guide interposedbetween the said housings above the path ot the metal, andvertically-adjustable guide-rests in the said housings, to which theguide is connected, to permit free vertical adjustment thereof,substantially as and for the purposes described.

10. The combination, with the vertical rolls and their housings, ofvertically-movable guide-rests set in slideways in the housings, andmechanism by which they are vertically adjustable, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

11. In adjusting mechanism for rolls, an adjusting-screw having aspherical nut set in a correspondingly-shaped socket, substantially asand for the purposes described.

12. The combination, with the verticallyadjustable guide-rests, ofadjusting screws, spheriml nuts on the guide-rests, through which thescrews pass, spherical steps for the screws, and driving-gear therefor,substantially as and for the purposes described.

13. The combination, with the verticallyadjustable guide-rests, ofadjusting-screws, spherical nuts on the guide-rests, through which thescrews pass, and driving-gear therefor, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

14. The combination, with the vertical rollhousings and the guide-bar,of slide-plates at the inner sides of the housings, having verticalseats against which the ends of the guidebar fit, and removable endstrips or bars bolted to ,the plates and confining the guidebar,substantially as and for the purposes described.

15. The combination, with the guide-rests and the vertical rollcarriers,of chucks movably mounted in longitudinal seats on the guide-rests atopposite sides of the rolls and secured to said roll-carriers, andguides bolted to the chucks and situate on the inner sides of the rolls,substantially as and'for the purposes described.

16. The combination, with the guide-rests,

of chucks movably mounted in longitudinal seats on the guide-bars atopposite sides of the rolls, and guides bolted to the chucks,substantially as and for the purposes described.

17. The combination, with the guide-rests, of chucks movably mounted inlongitudinal seats on the guide-bars at opposite sides of the rolls, andguides bolted to the chucks, said guides being shouldered and bearingagainst the lower sides of the rest-bars, substantially as and for thepurposes described.

18. The combination, with the vertical rollhousings, of guide-restssituate on opposite sides of the rolls, set in slideways in thehousings, in which they are vertically adjustable, and a bolt or braceconnecting the rest-bars, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

19. The combination, with the vertical rollhousings, ofvertically-adjustable guide-bars set therein, and guides connected withthe carriers of the vertical rolls and supported on the guide-bars,against which they bear to transmit thereto upward vertical strains towhich they may be subjected, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

20. The combination, with the verticallyadjustable guide-bars andstationary restbars, of adjusting-screws connected with the guide-barsfor moving them, and bearing on the rest-bars, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

21. The combination, with the vertical rolls, their housings, and theguide-rests and the horizontal rolls, their housings, and a guiderestsecured to the bearings of the rolls, of a guide plate or bar 47,pivotally secured to the guide-rest of the vertical rolls, and a bar orlink connecting the same with the guide-rests of the horizontal rolls,substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day ofOctoher,A.D. 1889.

HENRY AIKEN. \Vitnesses:

W. B. CoRWiN, J N0. K. SMITH.

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